elmo-doodle: Hello! Yay, I've finally done another story that involves Alex (and also another new character, just for him!) I've been wanting to do something like this since I finished 'The Doctor got Abducted'! And now I have :D
DISCLAIMER: I don't own DOCTOR WHO or TORCHWOOD. I just like to take the characters out of their boxes for a while and return them before RTD notices :D. I do own Alex and Addiena, so hands off!
The sound of materialization was greeted with joy from a certain Captain Jack Harkness, as he ran towards the slowly appearing form of the TARDIS in the hub. Whilst Gwen, Owen and Tosh gathered around in the curiosity that they always felt when the Doctor appeared, Ianto resolved to sigh with slight frustration as the paperwork was ultimately swept from the tables to the floor.
Jack stopped and stood a few meters away from the TARDIS doors once it had fully materialized, and waited with almost patience for someone to come out. It was mere seconds later when the door flew open and green-skinned toddler of about 8 years old came running out.
"Uncle Jack!" the little boy cried as he ran in to the open arms of Jack, who swiftly caught him and, lifting him in the air, spun him around.
"How's my favorite godson?" Jack asked as Alex giggled happily at being back in the arms of his uncle.
"Oi, don't spin him so much; he's just eaten!" came Rose's voice and Jack looked around to see her exiting the TARDIS.
"He didn't seem affected the last time I did it," Jack said, and he put Alex down on the ground so that he could properly greet Rose. And by 'properly', Jack obviously means with a kiss. And in Rose's case, it was a kiss on the lips.
"Do I have to threaten you every time I come here?" the Doctor asked as he came up behind them and wrapped a protective arm around Rose's waist. "Hands off, Captain."
"Hey, come on, Doc," Jack said teasingly. "Don't I get a 'hello' kiss from you, too?"
The Doctor just grinned a shook his head. "Nope!"
"Spoilsport," Jack said in mock offense. He turned to the rest of his team who were standing a short distance away. "You remember the team; Gwen, Owen, Tosh," each of them nodded their heads in greeting, "…and Ianto." Ianto heard his name and looked up from where he was gathering up papers. He gave the couple a smile and promptly got back to cleaning. "He's a bit of a neat-freak," Jack told them.
Little Alex ran up to where Ianto was and immediately began helping to pick up the scattered sheets. Ianto noticed and told him that it wasn't necessary to help.
Alex just smiled and responded: "It's my dad's fault that they're on the floor in the first place, but his ego's way to big to allow him to apologize for it, so I guess that I should take his place."
Ianto laughed and the Doctor scowled at his son. When the papers were all gathered up, and Ianto had thanked Alex for his help, he announced to everyone that he was going to make some tea. Alex watched him walk for a few steps before scampering along after him.
Jack chuckled at him. "He really has taken a shine to Ianto," he said as everyone got themselves seated in the conference room. "And I think Ianto secretly enjoys it."
"Yeah," Rose agreed. "Although I always wonder where he gets his good manners from, seeing as it definitely isn't from the Doctor."
"I have perfectly good manners!" the Doctor said, in defense. "When have I never been polite?"
"Queen Victoria," Rose said. "You began insulting the hard-work of her deceased husband."
"Okay, so I've been rude once…"
"You called me a 'fat-lot-of-good' for giving up on you-"
"Fine twice…."
"-and you began eating out of a jar with your fingers in somebody else's house-"
"Okay! You win! I'm an impolite-excuse for a Time Lord," the Doctor said, is hands in the air in defeat.
"I'd like to hear more of this whole 'eating-things-with-his-fingers' thing," Jack said, cheekily.
"You don't know the half of it," Rose told him, rolling her eyes.
The Doctor looked mildly wounded as Owen cleared his throat.
"Jack?" Owen said, bringing his boss back down to earth. "Don't we have work to discuss?"
"Work?" Rose asked, looking between Jack and Owen. "You mean you didn't call us here for a friendly visit?"
"It was meant to be just a visit," Jack said in defense, "but something's come up on the scans and we were figuring that you could help us out with it..."
--
While Ianto was in the kitchen making the coffee, Alex had wandered away to investigate the hub (something he always did when they visited Cardiff). Nothing had changed down around the work-stations, and there were no cool dissected aliens lying in the autopsy bay. Alex sighed, putting his hands in his pockets and pulling them out again when he felt something inside them. He pulled a bar of dark chocolate out of his right pocket and grinned. Looking around, he made sure that no-one could see him before he ascended the stairs to Myfanawy's nest.
As he climbed the many steps, he could hear Myfanawy crowing in her resting place at the top. But as he got closer he could also hear another voice. He frowned, thinking about how everyone was in the conference room, and Ianto wouldn't have been able to get up the steps without him seeing. Nearing the top, he defined the voice as female, and it was speaking in soothing Welsh vowels to the dinosaur.
Alex poked his head above the last few steps to see a young girl (probably about the same age as himself) sitting in Myfanawy's nest and stroking her beak. She had shoulder-length black hair which seemed to have a blue-ish tinge in it. Her blue eyes shone as she conversed with the creature before her. She was a slim girl and her presence seemed to light up the room a little.
I wonder who she is? Alex thought to himself, ascending the last few steps as quietly as he could.
The girl saw something out of the corner of her eye and turned to see the boy standing there, regarding her with a curious expression.
"Hello," she said, her Welsh voice smooth and warm.
"Hullo," Alex replied, standing where he was. "I haven't seen you about here before."
The girl smiled a little. "I could say the same for you," she said, before turning a bit more serious. "It's not safe up here. Myfanawy might attack you. She gets startled by newcomers…"
She trailed off as she watched Alex put his hand in to his pocket and pull out a bar of dark chocolate. Myfanawy, who had originally been perched beside her, let out a cry of delight and slowly approached Alex, who was unwrapping the chocolate. He extended an arm to let Myfanawy take it and then proceeded to stoke her head. After Myfanawy had devoured the chocolate, she took off from her nest and began flying around the hub.
Alex smiled as he walked over and sat down beside her. "I'm Alex," he said, extending a hand to her.
The girl smiled, and extended her hand in return. "Addiena," she said, shaking his hand. "You must be here often if you know Myfanawy."
"Well," Alex began, "we usually come and go whenever we feel like a visit. Though we are here every few months, because dad likes to make sure that Torchwood isn't messing everything up. What are you doing here?"
"I'm here because my parents moved house, and they couldn't take me with them. I have to stay with Ianto now," she told him.
"So… you're his sister, then?" Alex asked, and Addiena nodded. "That explains why you're pretty intelligent. How old are you?"
"Seven. You?"
"Eight," he grinned. "And I've spent my whole life traveling with my dad and mum. We can go everywhere and anywhere!"
"That sounds nice," Addiena said, bringing her knees up to her chest and resting her head on them. "You must travel by boat a lot, because you look pretty sick and green."
Alex almost guffawed. "I'm not that green," he defended, looking at his hands. "The color's faded away with the more time I spend in the sunlight since. Though dad says my species-" He quickly covered his mouth with his hands, unsure whether this girl understood what her brother's workplace involved.
Addiena's eyes widened. "You mean… you're an alien?" she asked, astounded. Alex slowly nodded, not quite certain that he should be telling her this. "That's awesome!" she said, brightly. "I've never actually met an alien before! Uncle Jack keeps talking about them and I always want to go when the team's called away on a hunt, but Ianto says I'm too young for it! So, what are you then? What species are you?"
Alex blinked. "Um… I'm a Time Lord," he said, honestly.
Addiena's eyes seemed to widen further. "No. Way," she said. "I've read all about them in the archives. Of course, Ianto doesn't know that. Uncle Jack has always said that Ianto and I have similar minds, and that he needs to keep an eye on me. Well, that made it all easy for me to disable the CCTV footage for the archives and go in and have a little nosy about without anyone noticing." She beamed at him. "So you're a Time Lord? Torchwood reports only have one account of a Time Lord, and his name's the Doctor."
"Y-yeah," Alex stammered, amazed at this young girl before him. "H-he's my dad."
This seemed to make Addiena happier. "Are you serious? The Doctor's your dad? Ooh, you did say that you could go everywhere and anywhere with him! That must be amazing! I've always wondered what time travel was like. Hang on…" she slowed, looking almost disbelievingly at Alex. "…does that mean that you arrived here in the TARDIS?"
Although Alex was feeling slightly scared at her amount of knowledge (Give her some credit, he told himself, she is Ianto's sister, after all.) he was also beginning to feel strangely fond of her. "Yup," he said, grinning. "I can take you inside the TARDIS, if you want."
Addiena squealed rather loudly before throwing her arms around Alex in a hug. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!" she repeated to the blushing boy.
"S'no problem," he said, gently prying the hyperactive girl off him. "Come on, we can go down now!"
--
"So, what's your diagnosis, Doc?" Jack asked as the Time Lord looked over the readings from the scans.
"Hmm, it doesn't seem to be anything dangerous," he replied ignoring Jack's pun and Rose's giggling. "Possibly just an alien passing by? Sarah Jane usually comes to Cardiff with her son to help any aliens trying to get home, so…."
"Sarah Jane Smith has a son?" Jack asked disbelievingly.
"Mm," the Doctor agreed. "Well, actually he's a human that has been grown. Luke, he's called. Very intelligent boy; gives me a run for my money."
"And he doesn't say that often," Rose added.
"I rarely say that at all," the Doctor corrected. "Though I suppose another genius had to turn up someday…"
Rose rolled her eyes at him. "Ah, thanks," she said as Ianto walked in to the room and offered her a cup of coffee. "Have you seen Alex?"
Ianto frowned. "I was under the assumption that he had gone in to the conference room," he said, setting a cup of coffee in front of the Doctor.
"No, he hasn't come in…" Rose trailed off.
"I'm sure he's fine," Gwen said, sipping out of her own cup. "We recently did a safety clean-up so there shouldn't be anything dangerous lying around."
"Don't worry about him, Rose," the Doctor said. "He's smart enough to look after himself." He reached out to hold his cup of coffee but Rose intervened and picked it up before him.
"Alex is every bit like you, Doctor," Rose told him. "He's bound to find trouble." She moved the Doctor's cup out of his reach. "And you're not allowed caffeine." The Doctor pouted at her.
--
"Oh, whoa," Addiena said as they stood inside the TARDIS' console room. "Oh my… she's gorgeous!"
Alex stood in front of her, grinning. "Time And Relative Dimension In Space," Alex told her, though she probably already knew that, "one of the most sentient ships in the universe. Dad said he picked her up in a scrap yard when he had to flee Gallifrey- they were going to destroy her because Type-40s went out of fashion."
"I can't imagine anyone wanting to destroy such a magnificent ship," Addiena said, moving around the console. She tentively reached out towards it. "Can I?" she asked.
"Sure!" Alex told her, and he watched as she gently stroked the console. The TARDIS purred and softened her lights to a golden glow. "She likes you," he said, grinning again.
"I like her, too," Addiena said. "I've imagined what it would be like to stand inside the TARDIS… but this is way better than I ever thought!"
"Yeah, she is pretty amazing," Alex said, also stroking the console. "She's always kept us safe, too. Well, most of the time. She only behaves recklessly when dad breaks a circuit that he was supposedly trying to fix. Even then, all she does is make our ride a little bumpier." He watched Addiena as she gazed wistfully at the centre column. "Do you go to school around here?" he asked, suddenly.
"Yes," she said, looking up at him. "It's a private school near the outskirts of Cardiff."
She didn't seem to want to elaborate, but Alex's curiosity of this unusual girl got the better of him. "It must be nice being able to learn with other kids who have the same intelligence level."
Addiena chuckled a little. "Nice… I wish it was," she said, frowning. "We're sorted into small classes and seated separately from each other. Every one in the class is at the same level, and the teacher's are really strict. We're not allowed to talk to each other, and our lunchtime involves sitting in the classroom, watching an educational video while we eat."
Alex watched as her bubbly demeanor changed as she talked about the school. "Have you told your parents about it?" he asked sympathetically.
"Yes, but they told me that it was good for my concentration, and that talking to other children would only distract me from my studies." She sighed. "I'm seven years old and I've never had a real friend."
Alex suddenly realized that her story was similar to his. Well, not the part about being sent to a boring private school, but the part where she had no friends. Life on the TARDIS meant that you were always moving from one place to the other, so there was no time to stop and get connected to the locals on all the planets they visited. Sure, Alex had his dad, mum, gran and even the TARDIS, but they were family. He didn't have anyone who he had made a step towards befriending. Judging from the books he had read, children needed to make friends to broaden their social circles and allow them to interact and form a trust with someone who they had approached themselves. Alex saw that Addiena needed this as much as he did.
"I haven't got any friends either," Alex told her, and she looked up at him in shock. "We're always traveling, going to planets, looking around and occasionally saving the day, but at the end, we just get back in to the TARDIS, probably never going to visit that planet again."
"But you've got your mam and dad," she objected.
Alex shook his head. "It's not the same," he said. "Sure, they're family and they're always there, but they're not my age. I may be Gallifreyan, but it doesn't mean I'm pompous and I don't need any friends. I'm just like any other kid," he added with a smile, "'cept I'm a bit smarter."
Addiena giggled and when she spoke, she was almost shy. "…will you be my friend?" she asked, hope shining in her eyes.
Alex broke out in to a grin that would challenge his dad's. "Definitely."
--
"Aha! Fixed it!"
"What did you do?" Tosh asked, running up to the computer in the conference room. She leaned over the Doctor's shoulder. "What did you find?"
"Well," he began, typing on the computer and bringing up a few diagrams on the monitor, "it was pretty easy to find; well, easy for me, a little bit harder for your human brains. Anyway, I did a scan of the internal data, which didn't show anything but then I did a little jiggery pokery with this," he held up his sonic screwdriver, "and it allowed me to do an even deeper scan in to data-layers that you probably didn't even know existed."
Tosh scanned her eyes down the list of different layers that the Doctor had unlocked and scanned through. "…thirty-four…fourty-one….hang on- we have a level fifty?"
"That you didn't know about," he repeated. "And it's in this very last level that your little blip appeared on." He zoomed in one a grid which was empty except for a little dot which was blinking. "And this is what you found. You said that you did a clean-up around the hub: I'm assuming you also cleaned up the computers."
"Yes," Tosh affirmed, "we thought it was best to keep everything clean and running. It's rare, but when the computer does crash, it's hell for us."
"I can imagine," he said. "But this little dot doesn't have much information about it. From the readings you can see that it is some sort of base, probably similar to yours, it's got life inside it, a bit like your hub, and I could also detect some alien technology… which are the same readings one would detect when they scanned Torchwood Three."
Realization dawned on Ianto's face. "This base is on our computers, but we couldn't see it?"
"Correct," the Doctor said. "It's buried at the very back of the computer's data, like its hiding. Somebody doesn't want it to be found."
Ianto and Jack looked at each other, and Ianto could see that the Captain had figured it out.
"Torchwood Four," Jack said.
"Why don't they want to be found, Jack?" the Doctor asked.
"We don't know," Jack replied, honestly. "Ever since Torchwood was organized, a secret base was hidden in the UK. Over the past few years, people have definitely become aware of aliens and the job that Torchwood does- but from the accounts back in Queen Victoria's days, a base was set up where people couldn't find it. That Torchwood was set apart from the others in that they don't go chasing after aliens. They're more of a research and surveying group. But they're smarter that Torchwood Cardiff and London put together."
"Do you have any idea where they may be?"
Jack shrugged. "We can't be sure, but we suspect it may be in Northern Ireland."
"That seems about right," the Doctor said, turning back to the screen. "One in each country of the UK. This base seems to have a one-way communication. They can contact you if they need to, but you can't contact them. These people are very smart. I'd like to meet them."
Jack was about to respond when they heard a thumping noise from outside the conference room.
"…what was that?" Jack asked, and everyone followed him out.
--
"You want to try something really cool?" Alex asked as he and Addiena exited the TARDIS.
"Sure," she agreed. "What do you have in mind."
Alex looked up to Myfanawy's nest and looked back at Addiena, grinning. He held out his hand to her. "I'll show you."
Addiena smiled back at him and took his hand in her own.
They walked up the steps to the pterodactyl's nest and when they reached the top, Alex let go of Addiena's hand and walked to the edge of the platform. He held out his arm over the edge and waited for a few seconds. When he heard a crowing, he smiled and stepped back.
"What did you do?" Addiena asked. Alex grinned at her and they both turned back to watch as Myfanawy flew around the hub before soaring over to her nest and landing on the edge. She watched the two children for a second before turning around and presenting her back to them. Her wings were half folded and she looked slightly over her shoulder and crowed at them.
"You are kidding me," Addiena said, as she watched Myfanawy wait patiently for them to get on to her back. "But Ianto said that it was too dangerous to even try that! He said Myfanawy is only tame to a certain extent."
Alex smiled. "I have a sort of telepathic connection with Myfanawy. It's more empathic that anything else, but I can communicate with her about certain things. It's comforting to her to have someone who can understand her in a way. Makes her life a little less lonely. So," he continued, offering her his hand again, "wanna go for a flight?"
Addiena looked a little nervous but smiled and took his hand anyway. Alex led her over to Myfanawy, and helped her to get settled on to the dinosaurs back. When he was sure that she was safe enough, he got on behind her. "I'd sit at the front, but I'm too scared about you falling off," he told her.
Addiena giggled a little giddily. "I'm kind of nervous," she admitted.
"Don't be," he said. "You'll love this. I promise." He let out a sharp whistle and Myfanawy crowed, spread her wings and dived off the platform.
Addiena gasped at the sudden descent and realized that she hadn't much to hold on to. She settle for keeping her hands flat on Myfanawy's back and relied on her legs to keep her balance. She felt Alex's arms fix themselves on either side of her body and she suddenly felt much safer. She squealed a little when Myfanawy started to rise and giggled at the unusual feeling of the wings beating to the side of her.
Myfanawy continued to fly upwards until they were almost touching the ceiling, then she began to circle around the hub. Addiena had never realized how big the hub was inside until she saw it from above. The ceiling was definitely a lot more spacious than the floor.
Alex whistled low, and Myfanawy changed her course. She began to swoop downwards again, but this time she was heading for the ground.
"We're going to have to jump off her," Alex said in to Addiena's ear.
"Are you crazy?!" Addiena shouted above the rushing of the air past her ears.
"Yes," Alex said proudly. "But it's a lot of fun!"
Addiena gulped. "But how are we going to do that?!"
"We have to twist and fall off her when we get close enough to the ground!" She could practically hear the grin in his voice. She also knew that this was going to hurt, but he'd obviously done it before.
She didn't have much time to think about it, because Myfanawy was quickly nearing the floor and, thankfully, she was swooping down over the sofas. Alex's arms wrapped around her and before she knew it, Alex had pulled them to the side and they fell off Myfanawy, who swiftly ascended again. Addiena was under the impression that they were definitely going to land on the sofas, but they didn't fall far enough. She ended up falling on Alex, who fell to the floor with a THUMP.
Before either of them could say anything, they burst out laughing.
A few moments later they heard footsteps approaching, and they looked up to see all the adults hovering over them.
"What were you two up to?" Jack asked suspiciously, raising his eyebrow.
Addiena giggled as she said, "Oh, not much."
"Yeah," Alex said, also giggling. "Just flapping about." At that, they both went in to fits of laughter again.
--
"It was good to see you again, Rosie," Jack said as he scooped Rose up in to a big bear-hug. "Make sure you stop by again soon. And take care of him," he added, nodding towards the Doctor.
"Don't worry, I will," Rose said. "And you take care of that one," she whispered, nodding to Ianto.
"Believe me, I wouldn't have it any other way," Jack assure her, giving her a kiss on the lips.
"Captain, get off her!" the Doctor called out mockingly. He shook hands with Ianto, Tosh and Gwen, and gave Jack a hug.
"You mean I don't even get a goodbye kiss?" Jack joked. The Doctor looked at him sternly and Jack was about to apologize when the Doctor suddenly leaned towards Jack a kissed him right on the mouth.
Jack was stunned in to shock, and when the Doctor pulled away, the Time Lord had a smug look on his face. Jack was too shocked to do anything and just stood there. Ianto had gone wide-eyed, and the girls were trying to hold back their giggles.
"Bye, everyone!" the Doctor called innocently, taking Rose's hand and heading back to the TARDIS. "Alex, come on. We've got to go."
Alex sighed and turned back to Addiena. "I should go now," he said, and his hearts broke a little at the sad look on her face. "I'll be back soon, I promise. I'll throw a tantrum if I have to, but I'll definitely come and visit."
She brightened up at that and pulled Alex in to a hug. "You better," she said. "I had fun today. It's going to be lonely without you around."
"I'm sure you'll find something to do," Alex said, hugging her back. He pulled away and was about to turn around when Addiena planted a soft kiss on his cheek. Alex felt himself blush. "Um…w-well," he stammered, "I'll, uh, see you around."
Addiena nodded and watched as he walked in to the TARDIS and closed the doors behind him. She watched in amazement as the grinding noise started up and the TARDIS began to fade from the room. Sighing, she silently hoped that the dfay when Alex visited again wouldn't be too far away.
Constructive criticism is appreciated.
